Movie notes: No-show parade continues

• Despite the flood of films not being screened for critics this year, I’m still genuinely surprised when high-profile films such as “Saw III” and “The Santa Clause 3″ go that route. They’re after box office, not critical praise, so how could bad reviews hurt?

However, a bigger upset this week would have been if “Let’s Go to Prison” HAD been screened for critics. The film, which the TV commercial suggests will feature the obligatory shower and gross-out jokes (“Try the merlot … I made it in the toilet”), had no-show stamped all over it. Dax Shepard, of the half-jalapeno comedy “Employee of the Month,” is a co-star; too bad his other recent film, Mike Judge’s “Idiocracy,” never made it to S.A.

Also a no-show opening Friday: “After Dark Horrorfest,” a package of eight horror films (plus another to be announced) billed as “too shocking for the general public.” They’ll only be screened Friday through Sunday. Find out more about the individual films here if you’re so inclined.

• For fans of “The Simpsons,” July 27 can’t get here fast enough. That’s the release date for “The Simpsons Movie,” the long-overdue big-screen debut of The Series That Made the Fox Network. The teaser trailer (a big red Superman-esque S that turns out to be Homer on the couch in his underwear and a T-shirt), has been out awhile, but the full-length trailer debuted last night on TV. It’s a two-joke hoot that spoofs CGI and then puts Homer in what has to be the ultimate rock-and-a-hard-place situation. Find it here.

• The focus in movieland is always on what’s opening this week, but as a fan of minutiae, I’m always amazed at how far down the line films are scheduled. At this moment, the latest release date on boxofficemojo’s calendar belongs to “How to Train Your Dragon,” which is due Nov. 20, 2009. The computer-animated flick from DreamWorks (the “Shrek” folks) is listed as “in development,” which didn’t stop the studio from claiming a prime holiday-season date.

Nonmovie note:

The Washington Post had a story this morning about the only two endangered Democrats in Congress. Both were in Georgia districts gerrymandered by redistricing to favor the GOP challengers; both are leading, although neither race has been called.

What got my attention, though, was a quote from one of the Dems, Jim Marshall, that the article noted came from an interview given “over breakfast at Nu-Way Wieners in Macon on Friday.” Wonder if the owner has considered franchising that name? Or sponsoring a punk band? “Ladies and gentlemen, all the way from Macon, Georgia, let’s give a big Vans Warped Tour welcome to … the Nu-Way Wieners!”